


FebuWhump 2021

by TheCrimsonStoryteller



Category: H.I.V.E. Series - Mark Walden
Genre: Angst, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Hallucinations, Insomnia, Mind Control, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poisoning, Some of these prompts go way off than what I wanted them to be but, Whump, Yeah so day 3 happened-, enjoy?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29127243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrimsonStoryteller/pseuds/TheCrimsonStoryteller
Summary: Hopefully I can actually keep this up
Relationships: Laura Brand & Shelby Trinity, Natalya | Raven & Maximilian Nero, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Otto Malpense & Natalya | Raven, Otto Malpense & Zero, Wing Fanchu & Otto Malpense
Comments: 9
Kudos: 9





	1. Mind Control

Laura stared at the boy and let out a shaky breath. White hair. Pale skin. Smug grin.

It couldn't be.

"That's impossible!" She repeated, this time a bit louder. "He-"

"I'll leave you two to catch up." Furan said with a vicious grin, exiting the room.

Laura watched helplessly as the door shut behind the woman, trapping her in the room. She almost wanted to follow her in hopes that she might have been able to find a way out, but she felt as if she was glued to place by the boy's cold glare.

She shuffled slightly as the silence hung between them for a bit, before the white-haired boy spoke.

"You really didn't think you were the only traitor, did you?" He chuckled, straightening his jacket suit and waiting for a response.

"Otto, I- You-" She stammered, jer voice barely raising above a whisper out of fear. "Tom and- Why are you doing this?!"

He chuckled, slowly making his way over to the girl. "Wouldn't you want to know that now."

She took a few steps back, feeling her back hit the wall, trapping her in place as the boy advanced towards her. "How could you?! I-"

"You trusted me?" The boy laughed, watching her closely. "That's a little hypocritical, don't you think, Laurie?"

She couldn't believe it. All this time, Otto was also a traitor. All this time, the one person she trusted the most was--

Laurie.

She shook her head, trying to inch away from the albino before remembering she had hit the wall. "You're not Otto."

The impostor's smug smile fell as he stood a few inches away from her. "Well. You're right." He chuckled, putting a hand on her shoulder. She tried to squirm away. "It was nice while it lasted."

"Who are you?" She hissed, pushing him away.

"They call me The Prototype. You however…" He moved away, sitting in the far end of the room and watching her. "You can call me Zero."

"What kind of name is Zero?"

"A really good one!" Zero hissed, obviously insulted by that question.

"Did they name you themselves?"

"Enough questions from you." He hissed, before smiling. "Sit down."

She shook her head, looking around miserably. "I'd really rather not."

" **Sit down.** "

A searing pain shot through her head and she could barely hold back a scream as her legs buckled beneath her, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Good girl." She heard him say. "Now tell me. What did you do."

"I…" She held her head in her hands. Her ears were ringing and she could barely make out the boy's words. "I'm not…"

Zero got up and walked over to her, bowing down to look at her eye-to-eye. "Tell me or I'll do it again."

She stared into the impostor's brown eyes for a few seconds before shaking her head.

He sighed. "This could've been so much easier for both of us if you would just cooperate. But alas." He set a hand on her head. " **Stay still.** "

Another surge of pain shot through her head and she tried to reach out and hold her head in her hands like before, but this time she couldn't. This time her muscles were locked in place, and she coild only let out a pained scream.

"I'm asking you one last time." He stated. "What did you use the drones for."

Again, she was silent.

He raised a brow, before shrugging and closing his eyes.

The pain striked again, but this time it was different. This time it felt intrusive. This time she couldn't even scream.

It was like her insides were on fire. She couldn't even make a sound or move, only suffer as the young clone went through her memories.

And then suddenly it was over, allowing her to fall to the ground.

She could feel a wave of nausea hit her as she layed helplessly on the ground. Her stomach was trying to make her throw up what she hadn't even ate and she could only let out coughs as her body tried to fight off the pain.

"That was easier to do than I expected." He chuckled, kicking her arm lightly.

She could barely glare at him through her half-lidded eyes.

"I'm going to have to leave you now, but don't worry." He narrowed his eyes with a smile. "I'll be back later."

She could only watch as he left the room with that statement hung in the air.

_I'll be back later._


	2. "I can't do this anymore"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place somewhere between book 7 and 8? I think? Idk I wrote this while half sleep-

She stared into the bathroom mirror, untying her hair and letting the blond locks fall around her shoulder freely.

Her reflection in the mirror stared back at her coldly.

The room was so so quiet.

_ She betrayed you all. Can you believe that? _ Her reflection laughed bitterly.  _ And here you thought you finally found a friend. _

"Shut up." She hissed. "She had no choice."

_ And how do you know that? Because she told you so?  _ The reflection laughed again, this time louder.  _ You still think she'd tell you the truth after all that? What makes you think she wasn't just making up an excuse? _

"She wasn't lying." She hissed, feeling the tears stinging her eyes. "She couldn't be. There's no way she-"

_ One by one. Someone else lied to you. Someone else played you. Someone else betrayed you. Just like before.  _ The reflection stated, checking out its nails.  _ What made you think this time it'd be different? People use you Shelby. And every time you always think they're your friends. _

"Shut up!" She shouted, covering her ears to keep out the voice. But the voice seemed to only grow louder and louder the more she tried to keep it out.

_ Gullible, innocent little Shelby.  _ There were two reflections in the mirror now, both staring at her with a cruel gaze as they talked in unison.  _ Can't have a friend without them turning into a backstabber. _

She screamed.

_ Gullible. _

_ Innocent. _

_ Friendless. _

_ Maybe you should just stay alone! _

She was sitting on the ground, feeling the cold tiles beneath her as the voice grew louder and louder and-

"Shel?"

She closed her eyes shut and pulled at her hair when she heard the nickname. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be.

"Shel, are you okay?"

She didn't dare open her eyes.

"Shelby, it's me. It's Laura."

She could almost feel the redhead tucking a stray lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"You… you're here… how…"

"Of course I'm here." The Scottish girl whispered. "I never left."

"You're here…"

"Of course I am."

She didn't dare open her eyes yet, but she could feel a pair of hands wrap around her shoulders and pull her close, rocking her back and forth. 

"I can't do this anymore." She confessed, going limp in what she presumed to be the girl's arms. "All the loss and the betrayals and all the things happening and-"

She finally let a sob escape her and her guard to fall.

"Remember what Lucy said?"

She could feel the girl freeze, but continued on anyways.

"You told me she said, 'there always has to be a choice'. What choice? Why does there have to be a choice?"

Silence.

"I'm not making a choice. I don't like them. You made a choice and this all happened." She stated. "Is that bad?"

No response.

She opened her eyes and she was lying on the ground.

Laura wasn't there.

She never was.

She grabbed onto the wall and dragged herself to her feet, stumbling a bit as nausea hit her. She stumbled over to the sink and splashed some water into her face, not daring to even glance at the mirror for a second as she put her hair back into a ponytail and left the bathroom.

Wing and Franz were waiting for her outside her room.

"Are you alright?" Wing asked when she joined them.

She nodded, just as she had all the times before, and changed the subject.

She was fine. She always was.


	3. "I can't lose you too"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I simply did not vibe with the day 3 prompt so :p
> 
> Also this was written at 3 am. My bad.

It was Otto's idea to do it. 

"You go that way and I'll go the other way." He had said, grinning mischievously. "We'll use the exits and meet outside."

The plan seemed easy enough. Just run, reach the exit, don't get caught by the shooter drones, don't die.

But it was never that easy.

Wing had nodded, trusting the younger boy and running to the left exit as Otto ran to the right one.

He was almost at the exit when he heard it. 

The sound of boxes and metal falling, followed by the sound of a drone shooting rapidly coming from the other side of the warehouse made his heart drop.

And then there was only silence.

Taking a glance at the exit, which was barricaded shut, now that he looked at it, he turned away and ran in the direction Otto had gone, barely stopping a few times to avoid drones.

He climbed up one of the stacks of boxes and looked around, trying to get a clue about whether the white-haired boy had made it out yet or not. 

From where he was, he could see the exit Otto was supposed to get out from, but it was barricaded. There was no way he had gotten out.

There was, however, a fallen stack of boxes he could see.

Hopping down from the stack and rushing over to the fallen boxes, he could only wish nothing had happened to his friend.

Just a few steps away from the fallen boxes was Otto, lying on his stomach.

He kneeled down beside the boy, trying to avoid looking at the two gaping bullet holes on the boy's back and the growing puddle of blood. He didn't even dare touch the boy. "Otto?" He whispered, hoping desperately that the albino would respond in a way.

Otto shifted slightly, his eyes fluttering and unfocused as he looked up weakly. "You… You were supposed to go the other way…"

He almost let out a laugh when the younger boy responded with that. "I couldn't leave you. I couldn't- I-"

"I'm so tired of everything." Otto whispered, barely managing to keep his eyes open. "When is all this going to end?"

Wing shook his head, feeling tears stinging his eyes and threatening to fall, but managed to keep his voice from shaking as he picked up the boy, taking him in his arms. "Not now, hopefully. The others will probably find us soon and we'll get out together. And then we can go get that icecream you wanted."

"Oh yeah… Icecream…" The albino hummed, barely managing to smile. "We were supposed to get icecream…"

"Just hold on a bit longer. The others should find us in a bit." He promised, his voice now shaking with a hint of dread. "Please. I can't lose you too."

Otto didn't respond, only shifting slightly to get more comfortable in the older boy's grip and setting his head on the taller's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Otto said at last, causing the Asian boy to stare at him.

"What do you mean?" Wing whispered, brushing the strands of white hair out of his eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry. For leaving you and going around by myself. For almost killing you. For making you put up with me." He rambled, clutching at the taller boy's shirt as tears started to stream down his eyes. "For hurting you. For hurting everyone else. For-"

"Stop that." Wing hissed, cutting off the boy. "I'm not accepting your apology. Because there's nothing you have to apologise for. You never willingly did anything to hurt me and you shouldn't be apologising for it."

Otto smiled, blinking rapidly as his consciousness slowly faded away. "Thanks."

His eyes closed.

His body went still.

Wing's world stopped.

"Otto?" He shook the boy slightly, trying to get a reaction out of him again, something,  _ anything _ . "Otto, please. This isn't funny. I-"

Deep inside he knew it was a tad bit too late.

But accepting it was never that simple.


	4. Impaling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... turned out weird? I like it but like. :b

The story went a little like this.

The genius went crazy, the assassin went looking for them and the mastermind watched from the back.

And the hero always won because they were the good one.

That's how the story went.

Except this time there wasn't a hero involved.

* * *

The boy's footsteps echoed as he approached the woman. 

The woman was staring at him, her katanas gleaming in the dark and illuminating her furious expression.

He felt like he should be scared of her like that. That under other circumstances he would've been. Maybe that once upon a time he was.

The boy would've been scared.

But he wasn't just the boy anymore.

He grinned, calmly stepping towards her.

She narrowed her eyes, watching him closely without moving an inch.

Somewhere in his head, someone was screaming that it was a bad idea.

He didn't listen, lunging towards the woman.

Narrowly dodging the blade, he grabbed onto the woman's arm, slightly making her off-balance and giving him the chance to rush behind her without getting hurt.

The woman took a split second to regain her balance and turn to him.

She was quick.

He grinned.

He could be quicker.

Without a single moment of hesitation, he pounced again, this time aiming for her legs.

She moved out of the way swiftly, facing him again and waiting for the next attack. "Otto. What are you doing."

The child narrowed his eyes and cocked his head.

"Otto? Who's that?"

A look of confusion struck her face, giving him just enough time to tackle her, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

He didn't see the blade coming.

* * *

But it also went a little like this. 

The child wasn't in control anymore, the fighter was determined to find them again, and the puppeteer smiled as they fought.

And the puppeteer always lost, because they were the bad one.

That's how the story was supposed to go.

Except this time the bad guy had the upper hand.

* * *

Raven stared at the white-haired boy with widened eyes. 

The pair of blue eyes stared back blankly, now cold and lifeless in contrast to the normal bright and almost glowing eyes.

The red blood mixed with black dripped down from the blade, stainging the boy's hoodie and falling to the ground, forming a small puddle.

In an instant, a black liquid started pouring out of the boy's mouth, causing her to drop the katana and get away from the body, watching as the black liquid formed a blob together and rushed away into the shadows.

She kneeled down besides the boy's corpse hesitantly, pulling out her katana.

Otto's lifeless eyes stared up at her.

She looked away.

Thousands of thoughts, however, rushed through her mind.

She wasn't supposed to kill him. She didn't want to. She didn't-

She reached out, closing the young boy's eyes.

There was no time to mourn.

* * *

But not all stories end well.


	5. "Take me instead"

It had been a normal day, a rarity at HIVE.

The first indication that something was going to go wrong.

Either way, Maximilian Nero was enjoying the small window of peace and quiet.

Malpense and his friends were even sitting quietly and not shouting about Malpense's newest trouble for the first time in months.

And it was so so quiet.

He took a deep breath and smiled.

Things were starting to look better.

The ground started shaking.

And it all erupted into chaos.

The kids started screaming as pieces of the caves started falling to the ground, almost crushing a few unsuspecting students. The floor started breaking, leaving large cracks in its way.

But that should be impossible, Nero thought. He had worked hard on making the school earthquake-proof so something like this wouldn't happen.

Deep inside he knew this was no normal ordeal.

Raven popped up behind him, her katanas drawn and her expression cautious. "The volcano is under attack. It's by someone from the outside and it's causing the earthquake. We need to evacuate. Now."

He nodded, raising his voice and shouting to get the attention of everyone around, explaining how the volcano was under attack and telling them to evacuate.

The students quickly gathered up, following the guards and sitting in helicopters ready to take off.

Malpense took off from his group, running towards him while avoiding the rocks falling from the caves' ceilings. "What's happening? Where are we going?"

"Now is not the time, Malpense." He hissed, going towards the helicopter pad like the other students. "Go with your friends and I'll explain later."

The boy frowned, glaring at him slightly and ran off, joining his friends again and moving towards the helicopters.

That was when a new helicopter entered the volcano and the ground suddenly stopped shaking.

Dozens of other helicopters entered the volcano, black-clad men jumping out of them and immediately going towards the children.

The first helicopter landed and a masked man walked out.

"Maximillian Nero." The man chuckled. "Finally the mouse is caught."

"You…" Nero breathed out a sigh. "How did you find here."

"How I found this place isn't important." The masked man hissed, gesturing at his men to surround the students. "Take the kids."

Raven hissed, holding her katanas tightly and about to rush over to the men when Nero grabbed her arm, stopping her in place.

"Wait." He shouted. The masked man stared at him. "I know what you want. Take me instead."

"Max, no." Raven whispered.

"Keep them safe, Natalya." He whispered to the woman.

The masked man laughed triumphantly, gesturing at one of his guards to get over to them. "Leave the kids. We're taking this one this time." 

They cuffed him up with large bulky handcuffs and loaded him up onto the helicopter.

Out of the corner of his eyes, could see his students and Raven staring at the helicopters as the men went back inside of them and flew away.

So much for having a peaceful day.


	6. Insomnia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I wrote this at 5 am after getting up because of a nightmare so-
> 
> I also used a few of Zero's lines from the day 1 fic bevause I could :)

Laura rolled around in her bed, opening her eyes again and checking the time again.

5:13

Two minutes since the last time she had checked.

She groaned, sitting up in her bed.

She felt fatigue hit her again at full force, causing her to fall back onto her bed again. Her body was begging her to sleep.

And she wanted to sleep.

And yet she couldn't.

She looked around at the room.

Shelby's bed in the other side of the room with the blonde girl sleeping peacefully, the desks, the computers.

So much had changed for them in the past years.

They had changed so much.

And yet everything else seemed exactly the same.

She tried to close her eyes again.

_ That's a little hypocritical, don't you think, Laurie? _

She gasped and opened her eyes as the voice echoed through her head again.

Clutching the blanket, she checked the time again.

5:14

She groaned.

Maybe she could work until she fell sleep?

With that thought, she barely managed to lift herself up from her bed and stumbled over to the computer, turning it on.

She stared at the screen, unblinking, before opening a tab and typing in a new code.

And slowly, oh so slowly, her focus turned completely to her work, leaving her completely unaware of her surroundings.

Countless minutes later, she blinked again.

She was turned away from the computer and was face-to-face with Shelby. The blonde girl was holding her shoulders, shaking her slightly with a look of concern barely evident in her face. "Brand? You here?"

She blinked a few more times, before nodding slightly.

Shelby let out a small sigh of relief, before pushing a red strand of hair out of the Scottish girl's eye and letting go of her shoulders. "Why are you up so late?"

She stared blankly. "Can't sleep. Too loud."

"Oh honey…" The blonde sighed, grabbing her hand and helping her up. "This is the third night. You  _ need  _ to sleep."

She didn't make any noise of protest as the taller girl led her to her bed, forcing her to lie down. 

The blonde was about to leave her bedside when Laura grabbed her wrist.

"They're so much louder tonight." She choked out, tears threatening to fall. "Stay here. Please."

Shelby stared at her.

_ Why did you ask her?  _ One of the voices hissed.  _ Now she's going to feel weird. _

She shook her head. "Forget I said tha-"

Shelby climbed onto the bed hesitantly, laying down next to her and wrapping her arms around her. "Shhh. Sleepy time."

Laura huddled up against her comfortably, her cheeks burning slightly.

Minutes later, the blonde girl was sleeping peacefully again.

Laura closed her eyes again.

_ This could've been so much easier for both of us if you would just cooperate. But alas. _

Her eyes snapped open again and she let out a small gasp.

She checked the time again.

6:06

And she just wanted to sleep again.


	7. Poisoning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really like this but like :p who cares?

Raven looked around at the crowd of people gathered in the large hall and tugged at her dress.

"I don't like this." She whispered to Nero, walking beside him, twitching slightly.

"Calm down, Natalya." He smiled. "There is nothing to worry about."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, forgive me for expecting something to go wrong whenever you have one of your secret meetings. It's not common for them to exactly go well."

The man chuckled. "Well, hopefully this would go better than others."

She rolled her eyes and started scanning the crowd for anything that would be considered a threat, when a man approached them.

"Ah, Maximailian! Thlught you weren't going to arrive at this point." The man greeted Nero warmly. She narrowed her eyes at him sceptically.

Nero gave a small chuckled, shaking the man's hand firmly. "Believe me, I wouldn't miss this opportunity for anything."

The man smiled. "Well then, shall we?" He gestured at an empty, secluded corener away from everyone else.

Nero nodded, following after the mysterious man. Raven, of course, also followed.

The man stopped when he noticed the woman and smirked. "Dr. Nero, I'm afraid your little guardian angel is going to have to stay here."

She narrowed her eyes, staring at the man coldly. "I'm not-"

"Stay here, Natalya." Nero ordered. "I'll be back soon."

She stared at him and the man for a few moments sceptically, before nodding reluctantly and watching them leave.

She leaned onto a table, looking at them chatting away, but unable to hear. She turned away, but out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the man pour Nero a glass of wine.

After a few minutes, they ended their conversation and Nero made his way back to her, downing the glass of wine that the man had given him.

"Over so soon?" Raven raised a brow and crossed her arms.

"I told you it won't take long." Nero smiled, clasping his hands behind his back and gestured to the exit with his head. "We can leave now."

She nodded.

They had almost made their way towards the exit and were far away fromt the crowd when it happened.

Nero stumbled for a bit, grabbing onto the nearest wall.

She set a hand onto his back, helping him steady himself. A concerned frown formed upon her face. Something was wrong.

"We need to get out." Nero croaked lowly, grabbing onto his chest as droplets of blood escaped his mouth. "Now."

She was about to respond when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching them and the man from before entered her line of sight with a smile.

"What did you do." She hissed as Nero collapsed. "What did you do to him."

"Oh don't worry about it. Just a little addition to his drink." The man looked at her coldly, cocking a gun and pointing it towards her. "You'll join him soo-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the woman had jumped towards him, kicking the gun out of his hand and pushing him to the ground.

"What did you do to him." She asked again, setting her foot on his chest and waiting for him to respond.

"Just what he had coming." The man responded.

With a cry of rage, she picked up the man's gun.

Three shots rang out.

She stepped off the man's corpse and tossed the gun to the ground.

She stumbled over to Nero. His eyes stared up at her lifelessly.

She kneeled down next to him, feeling tears stinging her eyes but not daring to fall. 

The assassin averted her gaze, reaching out a hand and closing her companion's eyes.

_ There you go, getting attached to people again. _ She could hear herself say in the back of her mind.  _ I thought you had learned better, Natalya. _

She got to her feet shakily.

There was no time for grief.


	8. "Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... did not turn as angsty as I wanted it to???

Shelby entered the large safehouse, the redhead following after her.

They were both soaking wet from running through the rain outside, their hair dripping with water and both shivering because of the cold.

"Do you think they managed to follow us?" Shelby asked hesitantly, looking around at the safehouse. "Not that I'm underestimating your technology stuff, but are you sure it completely masked our location?"

"Aye. Hopefully." Laura nodded, frowning and taking off her wet coat. "Especially with the stunt you pulled there, I don't think they'll even suspect our location."

She rolled her eyes and untied her ponytail, letting her hair fall onto her shoulders. "It was a distraction and it worked. You can't complain about that."

"It was dangerous!" The redhead hissed. "You could fall!"

"But I didn't." The blonde winked, shaking her hair in an attempt to dry it.

"But you could!" She hissed again, stomping over to the heater in the corner of the room and sat next to it.

Shelby sighed, making her way over to the heater as well and sitting next to Laura. She could feel the redhead glaring holes into her even without looking.

"Soooo…" She looked up slightly, staring into Laura's green eyes. "If I tell you I'm sorry, would you accept that or are you going to need cookies for that?"

Laura stared at her hesitantly for a few moments. Her expression softened slowly and she wrapped her arms around the American, curling up next to her. "Just don't do that again."

"No promises." She murmured with a smile, patting Laura's hair. "But I'll try."

And then it was quiet.

So so quiet.

She was about to drift off into sleep when she heard it.

The light footsteps of someone trying not to be heard, lurking just outside of the safehouse.

She craned her neck, trying to take a look around the safehouse, trying not to shift too much and disturb her companion just in case nothing was actually wrong.

More footsteps could be heard from outside.

"Hey. Hey. Get up." She whispered to Laura.

"Hm?" The redhead looked up with a yawn, rubbing her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"This is no time to sleep." Shelby whispered. "They've found us."

"Huh?" Laura sat up, looking around. "But that's impossible."

Shelby got up, quickly shushing her and looking around warily.

Laura just stared at her.

"Are you sure?" She asked, eyeing her sceptically. "Because I don't think-"

"I'm not crazy!" Shelby snapped at her, falling quiet again and looking around franticly, before whispering. "There's someone outside!"

_ Maybe you are, though,  _ she heard something in the back of her mind say.

"I…" Laura paused, trying to choose her words carefully. "Maybe we should-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the blonde quickly grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her to her feet. "No time to talk." She said quickly, dragging her towards the hidden exit of the safehouse, a small hole in the wall hidden from the outside by a bunch of bushes. "We need to go. Now."

With a small sigh of protest, the redhead crawled out of the exit, her companion following.

"Don't get up." Shelby whispered, crawling through the bushes. "They'll notice us if you do."

Laura rolled her eyes, following after the blonde without a word.

Once they were far away from the safehouse, Shelby grabbed her hand again, pulling her to her feet and running towards one of the buildings.

"Shel, where are we going?" Laura shouted as Shelby grabbed onto the building's fire escape, pulling herself up.

"Up there, duh." She replied, helping her up. "Race you to the roof. First one there gets to choose what we'll have for lunch tomorrow."

Soon enough, they stood on the roof together, the rain falling on them and making their hair wet again. "What's this all about?" Laura asked, crossing her arms in annoyance from the blonde's antics. The blonde wasn't even paying attention to her, instead staring blankly at behind her. "There was no one at the safehouse! There was no way we were caught and you were just being para-"

Shelby cut her off, patting her on the shoulder and turning her around.

Laura gasped at the sight before her. The safehouse they were once in was now engulfed in flames, burning to nothing.

Shelby's legs gave out beneath her as the rush of adrenaline slowly vanished. She was vaguely aware of Laura kneeling down beside her, putting a comforting hand around her shoulder. 

"Shelby I…" She sighed, feeling the blonde trembling and leaning into her. "I'm sorry. I- I should've listened. I just-"

"It's alright." Shelby shook her head, pulling away from the redhead and putting her head back into a ponytail, before getting back to her feet.

"Are you sure?" Laura asked sceptically, watching the blonde carefully.

"Of course." Shelby smiled, her blank expression now replaced with a forced smile.

It was always alright.


	9. Time Travel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I took some... liberties with this prompt?

She was four when it happened for the first time.

She was swinging around in the corridors of their house, her pair of blonde braids swaying in the air.

Her parents were downstairs, arguing about something. She pretended not to hear, keeping her smile on.

She hadn't been careful enough, getting too close to the stairs.

It had only been a small stumble. One little slip of her foot, and she was falling from the steps, plummeting down.

She could almost hear the snao of her breaking bones as she blacked out.

And then she opened her eyes.

She was sitting in her bed again. Her body hurt and she couldn't move, but those effects disappeared in a matter of minutes.

And when she walked in the corridor, her hair was still in a pair of braids, her parents were still arguing downstairs and the stairs were staring at her cruelly, daring her to approach them.

* * *

She was about ten when it happened, when she realized exactly wwhatshe was doing.

It was a cycle.

One she couldn't control.

She never knew exactly when it would take effect.

Something bad would happen, she would wish it to go back, and then only sometimes it worked.

She wasn't the one in control.

She never had been.

* * *

The twelve-year-old jumped from the rooftop to rooftop, a bag of jewellery in her hands. She could hear the voices of people chasing after her in an attempt to catch her in action.

She stood on top of one of the roofs, staring at the world around her.

There was a chill in the air. A small breeze played with her hair.

The stars were beautiful and she wasn't careful enough.

A gunshot could be heard.

She couldn't dodge fast enough.

She woke up at the start of the day again.

* * *

Wing was dead.

She was wishing it to go back and it wasn't working.

She wrapped her arms around herself, repeating to herself. "Go back. Go back please. I want it to go back."

And yet when she opened her eyes, nothing had changed.

It wasn't going back and she had no say in it.

She never had a say in anything.

* * *

Wing wasn't dead.

She didn't need to use her power to bring him back.

It still felt wrong.

* * *

She kicked at the wall, trying to will her powers to work again.

Otto was gone. This time she was sure of it.

"Just go back! Please!" The blonde screamed, falling to the ground. "I just want this to be fixed!"

"Shelby?" She could hear Laura approaching her. "Are you…"

"I'm not." She admitted, tugging at her hair. "I'm really not."

The redhead had fallen silent, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. It wasn't everyday that she saw the blonde girl admitting that.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" Laura asked hesitantly.

She stared at her silently, before whispering. "Do you ever feel like you're in a cycle? One that you can't get out of?" She watched as a look of confusion settled onto the redhead's face. "And no matter how much you try to stop it you can't because you have no control over it. And when you want the cycle to go back so you can fix something important it doesn't. And when everything is finally at a good point then it the cycle just resets everything again and-"

She paused as she felt the redhead set a hand on her cheek, wiping away the tears streaming down her eyes that she hadn't noticed falling.

"I get it." Laura sighed, wrapping her in a hug.

"Y-you do?" She managed to stutter out.

Her mind was reeling. That was impossible. There was no way Laura had the same powers as her. But a small seed of hope started to grow inside of her at the thought of that. At the thought of not being as alone as she thought after all.

"Aye. With all the things happening around us since we've come to HIVE, it really does feel like a never-ending cycle." Laura muttered.

The hope died as soon as she said that.

"Yeah. That." She whispered with a bitter chuckle, pulling away from the hug. "It does."

She was alone.

* * *

Otto was alive. He was hurt and he was almost killed and he was shaken, but he was alive.

Her powers had failed her again.

She felt like screaming.

* * *

Lucy was dead and she wanted to turn it all back again.

But once again, it wasn't working.

But that's a good thing, she thought, that's how it is when it's not real.

Wing had died. She couldn't use her power. He turned out to be alive.

Otto had died. She couldn't use her power. He also turned out to be alive.

Lucy had died.

She couldn't use her power to turn it back.

That meant she was alive.

Right?

Deep inside something insisted otherwise.

* * *

Lucy was dead.

She really was.

She didn't want to believe that.

* * *

She stepped onto the narrow line connecting the two halves of the platform, not daring to look down at the dark abyss below that'd be her demise if she was to lose balance.

What'd happen if she fell?

She took another step calmly.

Would her powers save her or would they leave her to die? 

She hissed as she almost lost balance, before regaining it.

Were her powers even real?

Just a few more steps.

Or were all that she experienced from them just hallucinations?

She finally reached the second platform, letting out a sigh of relief.

Shelby peered over the edge, staring into the deep abyss.

Would it hurt to try?


	10. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this is bad. Really bad.
> 
> Enjoy?

Otto peaked into his room. Wing was there, sitting in his bed and reading a book.

He felt a grin tug at his lips. It had been so long since the two of them had spent time together, especially after the incidents with the Glasshouse.

It was almost like Wing was trying to avoid him.

Wing looked up, noticing him entering the room when the door closed with a click, before looking away quickly, a distant look on his face.

Otto frowned, sitting on Wing's bed next to him. 

The Asian boy didn't even spare him a glance.

"Something wrong, big guy?" He asked, his concerned frown deepening.

He didn't respond.

"You can tell me if something's bothering you."

Wing was glaring at him now, only whispering a few words. "You did that."

Otto tilted his head in confusion. "Did what?"

"At the Glasshouse." He elaborated somberly. "You did that and it was intentional this time."

The realization slowly dawned onto him. "You mean the…"

The Asian boy looked away again.

There was only silence.

"Are you…" Otto gulped, scooting closer to the taller boy hesitantly. "Are you mad at me for…"

"I'm not mad." Wing hissed. "Just…"

"I'm sorry." The albino sighed. "I didn't know you-"

He was cut off by the taller boy wrapping his arms around him out of nowhere, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"I've lost so many people, Otto." He said softly. "And I thought I had lost you too. I had failed to protect you." His voice shook slightly with unshed tears. "I was so so relieved when Laura came and told us you were actually alive. But-"

"I won't do it again." Otto promised, pulling himself out of Wing's grip. "Unless it's absolutely necessary."

Wing nodded, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he got up. "Didn't Nigel want us to meet him in the library today?"

"Right." Otto nodded, following the Asian boy out. 


	11. Hallucination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, I'm not an expert in hallucinations and this was written in the middle of English class

He was shaking, a throbbing headache making it hard to calm down.

"Otto?"

He didn't dare look up.

""There you are! Thought we were never going to find you at this point."

He could hear the girl's voice approaching him.

"Are you... are you alright? Why are you shaking?"

"Stop it." He hissed, a choked sob escaping him.

"Stop what?"

He looked up, staring the blond girl in the eyes with a furious gaze. She stared back at him, her brows furrowed in concern. "Stop with the hallucinations. Now."

In the blink of an eye, the girl vanished alongside the dark surrounding him.

"You're no fun." Zero sighed, sitting a few feet away from him on the ground with crossed legs. "It was so much more fun when it was just me and the girl."

Otto glanced at Laura. She had long given up trying to fight the hallucinations and was sitting in the corner, curled up in ball and shaking wordlessly as the illusions surrounded her.

"Stop doing that to her." He hissed, trying to get to his feet, only to stumble when a wave of nausea hit him.

The nearly identical boy raised a brow. "And why would I do that?"

"Because-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the world around him was swallowed in the dark again, another shooting pain throbbing in his skull.

He looked around a few times, waiting to see who else was going to be next one to come to him as an illusion.

Then he looked down at his legs.

Water was puddled under him, now reaching his hips, but he couldn't even feel it. He moved his leg and waves rippled through the still water, but he couldn't feel his clothing getting wet.

The water was raising fast, reaching his chest in a matter of seconds. He looked around, unable to find anything that'd help him with a situation.

He knew the water wasn't real. He knew it was just another hallucination.

However, he also knew that the boy wasn't going to let it be that easy.

As soon as the water reached over his head, he couldn't breathe anymore. He struggled and flailed around, trying to take a breath to no avail. 

He could see black spots dancing across his vision as his limbs finally gave up struggling, leaving him helpless. There was a faint ringing in his ears, as his vision slowly faded away from the lack of air.

And then suddenly it was over. The fake water was gone, and he laid in a shivering heap on the ground, coughing and gasping for air.

"You didn't finish your sentence, Malpense." Zero smirked, slowly making his way toward the albino. "Why would I stop?"

He blinked, barely managing to calm down his breathing. He could still feel the calm that was taking over him as he was slowly blacking out from the lack of air.

"Because then you wouldn't have to work for Furan." He caughed out, his lungs burning as the fresh air rushed in. "And you can come with us if you-"

"Funny of you to assume I'm working completely for Furan." Zero hissed, kneeling down beside him. "And I assure you, I have no interest in being a part of your little group of heroes." Otto felt the clone's hand set on his forehead. His hand was cold, and it sent a chill through his body. "Now. Let's try something new, shall we?"

In a second, Otto could see flames dancing across his skin, burning through his skin and flesh, but he couldn't feel a thing.

"Looks beautiful, doesn't it?" Zero smiled. "Just a bunch of harmless flames."

Otto narrowed his eyes sceptically.

"Oh don't look at me like that." Zero chuckled, nefore falling silent, as if concentrating on something.

In the blink of an eye, the flames felt real. They fel hot and painful and he could feel them burning through his flesh and bones, even though they were never actually even there.

This time he screamed.


End file.
